Muyskens Kathryn Lynn
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
J Med Humanit. 2024 Mar;45(1):95-111. doi: 10.1007/s10912-023-09809-x. Epub 2023 Jul 12.
Culture, health, and medicine intersect in various ways-and not always without friction. This paper examines how liberal multicultural states ought to interact with diverse communities which hold different health-related or medical beliefs and practices. The debate is fierce within the fields of medicine and bioethics as to how traditional medicines ought to be regarded. What this debate often misses is the relationship that medical traditions have with cultural identity and the value that these traditions can have beyond the confines of the clinical setting. This paper will attempt to bring some clarity to the discussion. In so doing, it will delve into some controversial areas: (1) the debate around whether liberal states ought to embrace multiculturalism, (2) the existence and nature of group-differentiated rights, (3) the question of whether healthcare systems ought to embrace medical pluralism, and (4) what this would entail for policymakers, clinicians, and patients. Ultimately, I argue that liberal democratic states with multicultural populations ought to recognize medical pluralism as a matter of respecting group-differentiated and individual human rights.
文化、健康与医学以多种方式相互交织，而且并非总是毫无冲突。本文探讨自由多元文化国家应如何与持有不同健康相关或医学信仰及实践的多样化社群进行互动。在医学和生物伦理学领域，关于应如何看待传统医学的争论十分激烈。这场争论常常忽略的是医学传统与文化身份的关系，以及这些传统在临床环境之外可能具有的价值。本文将试图为这一讨论带来一些清晰的认识。在此过程中，它将深入探讨一些有争议的领域：（1）围绕自由国家是否应接纳多元文化主义的争论，（2）群体差异化权利的存在及性质，（3）医疗保健系统是否应接纳医学多元主义的问题，以及（4）这对政策制定者、临床医生和患者意味着什么。最终，我认为拥有多元文化人口的自由民主国家应将医学多元主义视为尊重群体差异化人权和个人人权的问题而予以认可。
